Andrew Tinney, the former chief operating office of Barclays Wealth who was censured today by the FCA over his conduct, says the regulator “went after the wrong man.”

He has also accused his ex-employer Barclays Wealth of treating him as a “scapegoat” and says the verdict - which saw the threat of a ban on him dropped - means he is free to return to financial services.

After a long legal battle the Upper Tribunal found that Mr Tinney breached his obligation as an approved person “to act with integrity.”

Read full story on public censure here: FCA publicly censures senior Barclays Wealth exec

The FCA issued a public censure of Mr Tinney but dropped a move to partially ban him after the Upper Tribunal declined to back the FCA’s submission to ban him.

In a statement today after the FCA published its ‘Final Notice’ on the issue, Mr Tinney insisted the FCA “went after the wrong person” and that he was trying to “fix Barclays' toxic culture and the cultural and compliance failings of its senior management.”

He believes he was scapegoated by Barclays' senior management.

A statement issued on behalf of Mr Tinney said: “Finally, after more than five long years of relentless pursuit by the FCA, Mr Tinney is delighted that the Upper Tribunal has recognised that he did not mislead the FCA nor the New York Fed and no documents were destroyed.

“The ultimate outcome is that he is free, once again to work for any financial services firm in any role.”

Harvey Knight, partner at the law firm Withers LLP, who has acted for Mr Tinney during the FCA investigation, said: "This is an unprecedented Upper Tribunal judgment. With the Upper Tribunal having upheld the FCA's own decision not to fine Mr Tinney, the FCA has also now decided not to pursue a prohibition order against Mr Tinney in the wake of that Upper Tribunal judgment.

“Put bluntly, Mr Tinney is free to work again in the financial services industry in any role. This is telling. The FCA has serious questions to answer about why it decided to pursue this case."

Barclays Wealth has declined to comment on the claims by Mr Tinney. The FCA declined to comment further beyond its press release on the Final Notice.